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Howling II: Your Sister Is a Werewolf

Got a kick out of this Twitter turn of phrase from a fellow Crypt TV member Kino, “Everyone hates sequels when it’s a horror movie with a 7th edition, but don’t speak ill of Star Wars or you’ll get cut.”

She knows of what she speaks (hell, “Kino” means “Cinema” auf Deutsch). But the Star Wars franchise is galaxies removed from the low-budget atmosphere we inhabit here, which is primarily horror.

Sometimes, it doesn’t take six additions for the welcome to wear out for the next nascent horror franchise. Howling II (or Howling 2) is one such beast. And make no mistake, it’s a clunker.

But as one of us said on the podcast, if it had been titled something else entirely, we would’ve been more forgiving. As it stands, we’re STILL pretty forgiving, as for all its faults (and there’s a pack of ’em) this lycanthrope terror is still pretty darn entertaining.

And that’s thanks to the questionable pairing of the two leads: the solemn formidable presence of the legendary Christopher Lee and his diametric opposite, corn cob Reb Brown.

Like Vincent Price (please check out the RAM podcast interview with his daughter Victoria Price in which she discusses Vincent’s incredible legacy), Lee elevates everything he touches, even when he’s decked out in South Beach coke dealer attire here.

Also memorable, Sybil Danning as a Transylvanian witch, who told Daily Grindhouse, “Howling II has been really downed in the press as one of the worst movies ever but I disagree. And this movie, I have to say, we can’t compete with Joe Dante’s film. They had Rob Bottin (Rick Baker protege, who did makeup for RoboCop) we didn’t, he was in Hollywood and we were in the Czech Republic which was still behind the Iron Curtain. Instead of getting the werewolf costumes we asked for we got monkey outfits and there was nothing we could do.”

Check out Howling 2 for yourself and let us know what you think, maybe by the pale pale light of the moon?